Buffett’s New Investment Manager: Which Stocks He Likes

By

Matt Phillips

Oct 25, 2010 5:32 pm ET

So Charlie and the Oracle pulled a fast one on us, naming a Greenwich hedge fund manager by the name of Todd Combs as an investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, where he will handle a “significant portion” of Berkshire’s investment portfolio. From the press release:

Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire’s CEO, commented “For three years Charlie Munger and I have been looking for someone of Todd’s caliber to handle a significant portion of Berkshire’s investment portfolio. We are delighted that Todd will be joining us.”

As befits someone that Buffett holds in high regard, Combs seems to have a remarkably low profile for a
Greenwich hedgie. According to a write-up on FactSet’s Lionshares, Castle Point was founded in 2005 and it’s a “value-oriented, long/short equity investor focused on the financial services sector.” But we can barely scare up anything on him using Factiva, except for an old press release with a canned quote.

If nothing else, we can look at the stocks his fund has been holding. Here’s the top five holdings by market value, according to FactSet Lionshares.

Mastercard (Class A shares)

U.S. Bancorp

State Street Corp.

Western Union

RenaissanceRe (A Bermuda, based reinsurer.)

Combs seemed to be pretty active in these stocks during the second quarter. For instance he increased his position in MasterCard by 70% from March to the end of June. He also increased his position in State Street by more than 60% during that period.

Of course, there’s going to be quite a bit of speculation about whether Combs, 39, may represent some sort of heir apparent to Buffett — who turned 80 in August — as the succession plans for Berkshire remains closely guarded. We have no idea. But one thing is for sure, he’ll certainly have a tough time staying under the radar from now on.

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